Binding attachment for sewing machines



Oct. 5, 1948. T. J. HORWATH 2,450,663

BINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Dec. 27, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a 5; f gin/um! 7 .7/ze0alore Jiorwwt 0a. 5, 1948. R A 2,450,663

BINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Dec. 27, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 5, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- BIN DING ATTACHMEN'L. FGR. SEWIN G MACHINES Theodcre J. Horwath, Newark, N. J.,.:a;ssignor' to The Singer Manufacturing (iompany, Eliza;- be th,.N.'.J.-, a. corporation of New Jersey' ApplicationDecember 27, 1945, Serial No. 637,328

This-inventionrelates to binding attachments for sewing machines and more particularly to binding attachments of the type which are adapted to be secured to the presser-bar of a conventional family sewing machine, and adjusted laterally relative to the'line ofv seam formation.

It'has long been the practise to furnish binding attachments of thisnaturetopurchasers offamil'y sewing machines but, because ofthe fact that the use of'such attachments necessitates the simultaneous holding and guiding of both the work and the binding strip during the operation of the mach'ine, only a small percentage of the users of the machines have become proficientin'the use-of such attachments;

This invention has as: an object to improve bindingattachments'of' this nature so that bindi'ng material of various widths, and whetherplain or with 'pre-folded margins, will be automatically guided into an intake aperture in the binder, without the assistance or attention. of. the operator; thereby'enabling'the' operator to concentrate cnthe running. of. the: machine-and the guiding of. thework-piece.

:This has: been: attained. by providing: the. attachment withgat lead'-in..guide for the binding strips, which guide is so; constructed and so lo cated with respect to thezintake-endo'f the binder that'binding strips. of various widths. may be passedtherethrough and directed into any one of. a plurality of intake apertures in the binder.

Preferably, the lead-in guide is located forwardly and to. one side of. the receiving end of the: binder and is mounted. on. the supporting arm of the binder so as to maintain a constant position relative to the receiving end of the binder in all of. the adjusted positions of the binder relative to the line-of seam formation.

Drawings depicting two embodiments ofv this. invention. have been annexed as a part ofthis disclosure and .in suchdrawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a binder for. a family sewing machine, showin one. form. of binding guide. attached. thereto and. illustrating, in dottedlines. its. use in. guiding a plain or unfolded binding. strip tothe. intake. end. or the binder.

Fig.2 is a left side. view of. the parts-shownin. Fig. 1..

Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig..1,.but.illustrating the use of the device when. guiding a prefolded binding strip.

. Fig. 4 is a view similar to. Fig. 1., but. showing amodified form. of'binding.guideattached' to-the binder and illustrating its use-inguidin a plain closedias embodied in la bin'derfcomprlsing:a shank l adapted to be "secured upon.- the lower end of asewing machine: presser=bar 2', as by' a clampscrew 3 in place of the conventional presser foot' with. which the machine is normally fitted for plain sewing. The shank It carriesia foot-portion: 4: which bears upon. the work and is provided:

with a;v needle-holes for the passage of a reciprocating eye-pointed needle 6; whichcooper ates with a loop-taker (not shown) in the fo'r mation of stitches;

The foot: 4' is provided with. a forwardly projecting upturned portion T170; whichis'adjustably secured, by a screw 8,: a slottedv arm 9. At its forward end, the arm 9; carries a binder head' ill having edge-folding scrolls I9 and lfl fbr. a: binding stri and between. which is a. central longitudinal channel II for passa'getof the body material 122. At:-its rear endthe arm 9 isformed with. a laterally off-set portion 99 provided with two. aligned slots fi a'dapted. to receive studs. 4?"

punched upwardly from the foot 4'. The studs 4* and slots 9b, together. with a slot 8 in the arm 9 through which the clamp screw 8 passes; afford means for adjusting the arm. 9,: and the binder-head carried thereby, laterally'of the line of seam formation produced by the needle: .6 and its complemental loop-taker, in conjunctionwith the usual work-feeding; mechanism.

As is common. in this; form of. attachment, the

binder-head is formed with-anopenbinding-strip receiving end R adapted tov receive a plain unfoldedstrip bof. binding material and. to fold the strip into substantially C-shape. As the strip passes through the binder, thesmarginal portions are inturned and. the body materialis led therebetween, whereupon the; binding strip issecured to the body :material as indicated in the upper portion. of Fig. 1.

Each binder of this nature is also: commonly provided, in its outer side Wall, withone or more:

slots S into which may be directed. anarrower stripof binding material I having, its marginal portions pre-folded, asindicated at'f" ineFignb;

As the pre-folded binding strip passes through the binder-head, it is folded along its center line with the pre-folded marginal portions extending inwardly and the body material is led therebetween to have the binding secured thereto as above described. The finished product is the same as that shown in Fig. 1.

As hereinbefore stated, considerable difficulty heretofore has been experienced by the average user of a family sewing machine in properly positioning and guiding both the body material and the binding strip while operating the sewing machine.

This invention has relieved the operator of one of these tedious and annoying duties, viz: the guiding of the binding strip into the intake end of the binder.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, there is provided a binding strip lead-in guide G located forwardly of and slightly to one side of the receiving end of the binder-head. This guide is formed of bent wire and has a rearwardly extending arm g soldered or otherwise secured upon the binder-head supporting arm 9. By this construction, the entire guide is adjustable laterally with the binder-head and maintains a constant position relative to the intake end of the binder.

The guide G is bent into generally U-shape and affords an upwardly extending guide slot g defined by the laterally spaced arms g and 9 thereof. This guide slot is arranged substantially perpendicular to the center line of the binder-head and accommodates both plain and pre-folded binding strips of various widths. Due to the construction and location of the binding guide, the smooth and rounded surfaces of the guide direct the binding strip to the intake end of the binder and place just sufficient friction' on the binding strip to keep it under proper control. The position of the guide G and its construction provide for properly directing either the wider strip 1) to the receiving end R of the binder or the relatively narrower pro-folded strip to the slot S in the side wall of the binder. It is obvious that the side wall of the binder could be provided with additional slots along the length of the binder and that the guide G would serve to direct a strip to any one of such additional slots.

The modification shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 differs from that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 in that the binding guide is formed of sheet metal instead of wire. The binder and its supporting means are the same as that hereinbefore described and therefore like reference numerals have been applied to like parts thereof.

In this form, the binding-guide comprises a twisted sheet metal supporting shank I2, soldered or otherwise secured upon the binder-head supporting. arm 9 and provided, at its forward end, with an off-set portion 13. A sheet metal guideplate 14 is pivotally attached to the portion l3 by a pivot pin l and is adapted to be turned thereon to either of the positions shown in Figs. 4 and '7. The plate i4 is formed, at one side of the pivot l5, with an arcuate guide slot l6 adapted to receive, initially fold and direct to the receiving end R of the binder-head a plain 4 to receive and guide to the intake slot S in the rear wall of the binder-head a pre-folded binding-strip f.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that this invention has greatly improved that type of binding attachment commonly furnished with family sewing machines, by providing the attachment with means for automatically guiding to the diiferent intake apertures of the binderhead both plain and pro-folded binding strips of various widths.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. In a binding attachment for sewing machines having a supporting member adapted to be secured to the presser-bar of the'machine, a binder-supporting arm mounted on said member and adjustable laterally thereof, and a binderhead carried by said supporting arm and provided with a plurality of binding-receiving openings; the improvement which comprises the provision of a plate-supporting member having one end secured upon said supporting arm and its opposite end oif-set laterally, a plate pivotally secured to the off-set portion of said plate-supporting member and provided on opposite sides of the pivot with binding guiding slots of dififerent lengths, one of said slots being of arcuate form, said plate being adapted to be turned relative to its supporting member selectively to align said slots with the respective binding-receiving openings in said binder-head to guide binding strips thereto.

2. A binding attachment for sewing machines comprising a supporting member adapted to be secured to the presser-bar of the machine, a binder-head supporting arm mounted on said member and adjustable laterally thereof, a binder-head carried by said supporting arm and provided with a plurality of U-shaped bindingreceiving openings, an extension of said supporting arm projecting forwardly of and at one side of said binder-head and spaced laterally therefrom, and a binding guiding means carried by the free end of said extension and forwardly of and spaced laterally from the intake and of the the binder-head for directing a binding strip to any one of said openings.

3. A binding attachment forsewing machines comprising a supporting member adapted to be secured to the presser-bar of the machine, a binder-head supporting arm mounted.- on said member and adjustable laterally thereof, a binder-head carried by said supporting arm intermediate its ends and having a central longitudinal channel for passage of a body material and a pair of relatively wide and narrow U-shaped binding-receiving openings adapted to receive, re spectively, relative wide plain binding strips and relatively narrow pre-folded binding strips, said supporting arm having a portion extending forwardly of the intake end of said binder-head, and a binding guiding member carried by the free forward end of the forwardly extending portion of said supporting arm and having a binding guiding slot arranged substantially perpendicular to the center line of the binder-head and adapted selectively to guide plain and pre-folded binding strips, respectively, to said relatively wide and narrow openings in the binder-head.

4. A binding attachment for sewing machines comprising a supporting member adapted to be secured to the presser-bar of the machine, a binder-head supporting arm mounted on said member and adjustable laterally thereof, a

5 binder-head carried by said supporting arm and provided with relatively wide and narrow binding-receiving openings, said supporting arm having a forwardly extending portion the free end of which is located forwardly of and at one side of the intake end of said binder-head, and a wire binding guiding member secured to the saidfree end of said forwardly extending portion of the supporting arm and provided with a binding guiding slot adapted to guide either plain and prefolded binding strips, respectively, to said relatively wide and narrow binding-receiving openings in said binder-head.

THEODORE J. HORWATH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name 

